25 TRUE FACTS ABOUT PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS
1. 8 in 10 consumers own between 1 & 10 promotional products.
2. 53% of these people use a promotional product at least once a week.
3. 48% of consumers would like to receive promotional products more often.
4. 77% of consumers say a promotional product’s usefulness is the #1 reason to keep it, with health and safety products, computer products and writing instruments ranked as the most useful.
5. 89% of consumers can recall the advertiser of a promotional product they’d received in the last 2 years.
6. 6 in 10 keep promotional products for up to 2 years.
7. Promotional products draw as many as 500% more referrals from satisfied customers than an appeal letter alone.
8. 53% of the time, promotional products create a more favorable impression of the advertiser.
9. Consumers hang on to promotional products for an average of 6.6 months.
10. 69% of consumers would pick up a promotional product if they deemed it useful.
11. With nearly 6000 impressions, bags generate more impressions than any other promotional product in the U.S.
12. 31% of U.S. consumers own a promotional bag.
13. At $.001 of a cent, bags tie with writing instruments for the lowest cost per impression of any promotional product in the U.S.
14. 91% of consumers have at least 1 promotional product in their kitchen, 74% have at least 1 in their workspace, 55% have at least 1 in their bedroom.
15. The top 5 buyers of promotional products are clients in education, finance, not-for-profit, healthcare, and construction.
16. Wearables are the top product category, followed by writing instruments, bags, calendars and drinkware.
17. Women are more likely to have bags, writing instruments and calendars, whereas men are more likely to own shirts and caps.
18. Ownership of logoed outerwear is highest in the Midwest, with 15% of people owning an item.
19. Logoed mugs in particular are more effective advertising than radio and television spots; 57% of people were able to recall the advertiser on a mug, versus 32% of radio and 28 % of T.V.
20. Adding a promotional product to the media mix increases the effectiveness of other media by up to 44%.
21. Only 1 in 5 people will trash an unwanted promotional product.
22. 63% of consumers pass along the promotional products they no longer wish to keep.
23. Before receiving a promotional product, 55% of people had done business with the advertiser. After receiving a promotional product, 85% of people did business with the advertiser.
24. The first promotional product tradeshow was held in 1914 – there were 32 exhibitors.
25. The first known promotional products – commemorative buttons – trace back to 1789 when George Washington was elected president.